LIVE: Motionless In White / Cane Hill / Ice Nine Kills @ KOKO, London

By Adam Rosario

A sold out KOKO is just one of the stops on Motionless In White’s Graveyard Shift UK Tour and the anticipation is palpable. Fans have queued all day long, showing the devotion that Motionless In White have created.

Ice Nine Kills kick off the night with their brand of theatrical gothic metalcore. If there was ever a perfect opener for a tour like this, it would be this band. ‘Hell In the Hallways’ and ‘Me, Myself, and Hyde’ are the definite highlights of the night; sounding massive and with limitless energy, they start the night off right.

Nu-Metal revivalists Cane Hill take the stage as main support and blast through an energetic set that could soon be considered favourites amongst fans of the genre. Taking influence from all the great Nu-Metal bands, their cocktail of noise sounds like Slipknot fighting Deftones. Lead singer Elijah Witt’s commanding stage presence and earworms ‘Lord of Flies’, ‘Erased’ and ‘Too Far Gone’ are the most impressive parts of the set.

After a long delay, Motionless In White take to the stage and incite absolute pandemonium. Having an hour set, they smash through the opening ‘RATS’, ‘Reincarnate’ and ‘Necessary Evil’ before acknowledging that they’re playing to a sold out venue. Chris Motionless has an undeniable stage presence, stalking around in his leather gloves, holding the attention of every single person in the audience. New tracks from ‘Graveyard Shift’ feature heavily tonight, as they should, and the crowd bellows every word back at the band. Even when dipping into their back catalogue for ‘Abigail’ (featuring Spencer from Ice Nine Kills) and ‘A-M-E-R-I-C-A’ they are greeted with rapturous receptions. Ending on the huge, defining ‘Eternally Yours’, Motionless In White came, saw and conquered.

The band were able to bring over their full stage production for the first time, including lighting rigs and costume changing dancers, and it’s cemented Motionless In White as a band to watch out for. Now in their thirteenth year as a band, they look set to grow even more and pack out venues bigger than the KOKO, and when that happens, audiences will be in for a treat.

ADAM ROSARIO